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Old 4-Jan-2011, 1:04 PM   #3
Tower Guy
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Delmar, NY
Posts: 1,236
Quote:
Originally Posted by SanDiego_air View Post
Any suggestions on what I need to do to improve my signal. Another antenna? a pre-amp? Any recommednation would be greatly appreciated.
I'd say that your problem is caused by high losses.

The 8 way splitter has about 11 db loss, the two way splitter has another 3.5 db. The downlead has about 2 db and the interconnect cabling adds another 2 or so.

Total loss 11 + 3.5 + 2 + 2 = 18.5 db. The typical tuner has a noise figure of 10 db. The 4220 has roughly 6 db gain. The predicted NM in your installation is 22.5 db. KNSD has a NM of 25.4 db. There's about 3 db missing somewhere, but that doesn't really matter much.

I'd replace the 8 way splitter with 6 ports terminated with a two way splitter. You should gain about 7 db.

The next improvement to contemplate would be an antenna upgrade to an HD1080. That antenna is optimum for you because it has a VHF pattern that's backwards from the UHF pattern, which is exactly the direction of your VHF stations. The UHF gain is also a bit higher than your 4220.

Finally, consider a AP4700 preamp. That's a UHF only preamp that bypasses VHF. That's the only amplifier that is appropriate in your situation.
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